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Amazon fires two tech workers who criticized the company's warehouse workplace conditions
Technology
Amazon fires two tech workers who criticized the company's warehouse workplace conditions
The workers had been outspoken critics of the e-commerce giant's climate policies and were previously warned about making public comments about its business
By Jay Greene
April 14, 2020 at 12:22 a.m. EDT
SEATTLE -- Amazon has fired two employees who were outspoken critics of its climate policies and who had publicly denounced the conditions at its warehouses as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The virus has spread widely, infecting workers in at least 74 warehouses and delivery facilities across the country, according to Amazon and media reports. Some warehouse workers have staged small demonstrations in response.
One of the fired workers, Emily Cunningham, a user experience designer who is part of the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, had offered on Twitter to match donations up to $500 to Amazon warehouse workers. She said a "'lack of safe and sanitary working conditions' puts them and the public at risk."
Cunningham said late Monday that she was fired Friday afternoon.
Maren Costa, a principal user experience designer who is also part of the employee climate group, said she was also fired Friday. Costa has retweeted criticism from Cunningham, as well as from groups supporting the activist warehouse workers, about Amazon's policies on protecting warehouse staff. Costa, too, offered via Twitter to match donations up to $500 for warehouse workers "while they struggle to get consistent, sufficient protections and procedures from our employer."
[Amazon employees launch mass defiance of company communications policy in support of colleagues]
Amazon fired the workers for "repeatedly violating internal policies," spokesman Drew Herdener said in a statement.
{snip}
Jay Greene
Jay Greene is a reporter for The Washington Post who is focused on technology coverage in the Pacific Northwest. Follow https://twitter.com/greene
Amazon fires two tech workers who criticized the company's warehouse workplace conditions
The workers had been outspoken critics of the e-commerce giant's climate policies and were previously warned about making public comments about its business
By Jay Greene
April 14, 2020 at 12:22 a.m. EDT
SEATTLE -- Amazon has fired two employees who were outspoken critics of its climate policies and who had publicly denounced the conditions at its warehouses as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic.
The virus has spread widely, infecting workers in at least 74 warehouses and delivery facilities across the country, according to Amazon and media reports. Some warehouse workers have staged small demonstrations in response.
One of the fired workers, Emily Cunningham, a user experience designer who is part of the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, had offered on Twitter to match donations up to $500 to Amazon warehouse workers. She said a "'lack of safe and sanitary working conditions' puts them and the public at risk."
Cunningham said late Monday that she was fired Friday afternoon.
Maren Costa, a principal user experience designer who is also part of the employee climate group, said she was also fired Friday. Costa has retweeted criticism from Cunningham, as well as from groups supporting the activist warehouse workers, about Amazon's policies on protecting warehouse staff. Costa, too, offered via Twitter to match donations up to $500 for warehouse workers "while they struggle to get consistent, sufficient protections and procedures from our employer."
[Amazon employees launch mass defiance of company communications policy in support of colleagues]
Amazon fired the workers for "repeatedly violating internal policies," spokesman Drew Herdener said in a statement.
{snip}
Jay Greene
Jay Greene is a reporter for The Washington Post who is focused on technology coverage in the Pacific Northwest. Follow https://twitter.com/greene
